I know this piece intimately from my childhood listening to it by Huguette Dreyfus on the harpsichord and I can tell you that this performance is absolutely the must beautiful I have ever heard in my life. Benjamin Verdery's contrast between loud and soft passages is beautifully executed the way it would be on a double Manuel harpsichord were the upper keyboard is soft and the lower keyboard is loud. Very few harpsichordists do it this way anymore or their difference between loud and soft is almost indistinguishable that it really makes no impact on the listener. Verdery's also makes maximum use of the guitar's ability to 'speek" to us in cold and warm tones by moving his hand closer to the bridge which gives a colder more metallic tone and further away from the bridge over the sound hole which gives a beautiful warm woodsy bell like tone. This is absolutely the best performance of this piece I have ever heard on any instrument. Too bad the sound is distorted in many places especially the beginning. Verdary does an even better job in his recording of this piece on his album called "Happy Here"
Yes I noticed this also. The guitar has so much ''colour'' because you can use different parts of the flesh on your fingers, play or should I say pluck harder and softer or change the position of the right hand. Finger positions on the fretboard also comes into play as you can often choose which string to play giving even more colour and 'contrast'. The same goes for electric guitar also.
Ben came to my high school (Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts) in 1986 to play a mini concert and hang out with us classical guitar students. What a great and nice guy he is! We had a ball playing Jimi Hendrix tunes with him. I'm so happy to see videos of him on here! :)
When I was young, handsome and strong (or not so much in fact !), and I practiced my accordion every day, I always finished with this piece. Thus I was calm and peaceful before going to sleep.
BRAVO! Because of this video on CZcams I decided I HAD TO learn this beautiful Couperin, even though it is beyond my abilities on the Piano. So, very slowly, I have been practicing, and have, to date learned to play three quarters of it. I was having a lesson with Chris Lewis, and asked if he was familiar with the piece (many are not), and he smiled and said "Oh yes..." I told him I had fallen in love with it from hearing a guitarist play it on CZcams, and asked if he had ever heard of Ben Verdery. He laughed. "He was my roommate at...." So he got me started on the road to learning it. I also have occasional lessons with Polly Van der Linde, and she too knows you from school. WOW! Small world. I just wanted you to know you have made a difference in my life, a wonderful one, and I thank you!
This is just too wonderful! I just started my day and this has made it already!! Bravo for learning Barricades, it's a gift to the world! What a story!!! and for the record Chis Lewis will remain one of the greatest musicians I will ever know! A GIANT!
I first heard this back in 1989 on a Commodore Amiga and fell in love with the tune. I never really liked music that changed tempo but there's something about this piece that just gets me.
Too many classical musicians seem to be afraid to express emotion when playing. I am happy to see Mr. Verdery allowing this sublime piece to affect him.
I like this. It's a little on the fast side, but he brings out the voices really well (esp in the bass). I like the dynamics as well as varying the color - close to the bridge for an edgy tone and near the neck for a sweeter sound where appropriate. All in all, a nice performance.
Hello from France. Sorry only discovered this video today. You play magnificently ! How I sympathize ! Me too I've become a Barricades Mystérieuses addict ; my teacher taught me to play it on the piano and to try and be inspired by Sylviane Dufresne's interpretation, that is never too fast. Too fast doesn't do justice to this absolutely amazing piece. Apparently simple but full of abysses and contradictions ; a genuine delight to play and to listen to. My teacher told me to try and play it with sensuality because the barricades might be far more erotic in their genuine meaning than the usual "eyelashes" explanation. So welcome to the "sect" of addicts and may music enlighten our lives for a long, long time.
It is so beautiful. It inspired me to play it myself. It is such a great process to discover the gentle magic that lies in this composition. It's a little bit sad, there is distortion on the recording. Maybe that is only because of the CZcams - conversion. A little bit of a shame !
Hi, I am a lutenist and I recently arranged and performed this for the French theorbo. I personally think the mysterious barricades have something to do with the eyes of a woman, being a 'wall' on the way to her heart...maybe, maybe not :)
I heard Parkening play this at the beginning of his career and have never forgotten it. Nobody seems to knowwhat the title means. I have asked anyone who might know and still no answer!!
Well wow. That was beautiful and gorgeous. And I am glad you make the faces when you play it that I make when I listen to it! Check Matthew McAllister's version here: czcams.com/video/xp6J6MKkMYk/video.html He makes this really subtle change just after 2 min 30 - almost seems like it could have been a mistake - but I now long for that simple variation in the final appearance of the theme and I miss it in other recordings.
Not in this key. Lots of good tabs in 'C; for this. (My preferred key!) And most professionals will play it in C. And try not to play it like your about to swallow a fly like Ben here...
I know this piece intimately from my childhood listening to it by Huguette Dreyfus on the harpsichord and I can tell you that this performance is absolutely the must beautiful I have ever heard in my life. Benjamin Verdery's contrast between loud and soft passages is beautifully executed the way it would be on a double Manuel harpsichord were the upper keyboard is soft and the lower keyboard is loud. Very few harpsichordists do it this way anymore or their difference between loud and soft is almost indistinguishable that it really makes no impact on the listener. Verdery's also makes maximum use of the guitar's ability to 'speek" to us in cold and warm tones by moving his hand closer to the bridge which gives a colder more metallic tone and further away from the bridge over the sound hole which gives a beautiful warm woodsy bell like tone. This is absolutely the best performance of this piece I have ever heard on any instrument. Too bad the sound is distorted in many places especially the beginning. Verdary does an even better job in his recording of this piece on his album called "Happy Here"
Yes I noticed this also. The guitar has so much ''colour'' because you can use different parts of the flesh on your fingers, play or should I say pluck harder and softer or change the position of the right hand. Finger positions on the fretboard also comes into play as you can often choose which string to play giving even more colour and 'contrast'. The same goes for electric guitar also.
아름답고 오묘하며 애달픈 이 음악은 작곡가가 살았던 그 시대로 나를 데려갑니다. 너무나 감동적인 연주 였습니다.
This is my favorite version of Couperin's masterpiece on CZcams. I think this is played to perfection.
Very fair judgement
Actually I think it’s this one: czcams.com/video/zy3e4TMf0Ok/video.html @1:39:06
AFAIK - this is the Oscar Ghiglia transcription - or some variation thereof. It's wicked - to play 🙂
Ben came to my high school (Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts) in 1986 to play a mini concert and hang out with us classical guitar students. What a great and nice guy he is! We had a ball playing Jimi Hendrix tunes with him. I'm so happy to see videos of him on here! :)
When I was young, handsome and strong (or not so much in fact !), and I practiced my accordion every day, I always finished with this piece. Thus I was calm and peaceful before going to sleep.
wow thats good to know..i play this piece everyday..i love it
BRAVO! Because of this video on CZcams I decided I HAD TO learn this beautiful Couperin, even though it is beyond my abilities on the Piano. So, very slowly, I have been practicing, and have, to date learned to play three quarters of it. I was having a lesson with Chris Lewis, and asked if he was familiar with the piece (many are not), and he smiled and said "Oh yes..." I told him I had fallen in love with it from hearing a guitarist play it on CZcams, and asked if he had ever heard of Ben Verdery. He laughed. "He was my roommate at...." So he got me started on the road to learning it. I also have occasional lessons with Polly Van der Linde, and she too knows you from school. WOW! Small world. I just wanted you to know you have made a difference in my life, a wonderful one, and I thank you!
This is just too wonderful! I just started my day and this has made it already!! Bravo for learning Barricades, it's a gift to the world! What a story!!! and for the record Chis Lewis will remain one of the greatest musicians I will ever know! A GIANT!
Yeah small world it is :)
Best fast interpretation I've heard.
I first saw Ben Verdery in 1983 in Quebec where he was teaching Master Classes at a guitar festival. He was inspiring then, and still is today.
Ce guitariste aime cette pièce, cela s'entend, il la joue merveilleusement bien.
Ben is a living gift to guitar with an absolute love of music and life ... miss you much!
One of the best interpretations I have ever heart.
I love this performance, congratulations!
Absolutely beautiful, thank you !
Beautiful performance! Ecstatic and contemplative.. The.guitar evokes wonderfullyl the harpsichord.
내한 공연때 잠깐 뵈었는데 행복한 기분을 옆사람에게도 전해주시는 분이었습니다. 이곡을 연주하신분들이 참 많은데, 저한테는 이게 제일 좋아요 :)
정말 저도 행복감을 느끼며 감상했습니다^^
Absolutely magical. Thanks Ben.
I first heard this back in 1989 on a Commodore Amiga and fell in love with the tune. I never really liked music that changed tempo but there's something about this piece that just gets me.
Too many classical musicians seem to be afraid to express emotion when playing. I am happy to see Mr. Verdery allowing this sublime piece to affect him.
Thank you so much! Ben plays this piece with such passion.
A true artist spoken from the heart 👍
Bravo Ben we have to make the music our own and you do it so well. Boom boom boom lets go with the next one.
I am here because of Imprimatur ❤. In this book a musician played this piece near a man who had been ill with plague and this song cured him.
Ben is amazing! What a sound!
I like this. It's a little on the fast side, but he brings out the voices really well (esp in the bass). I like the dynamics as well as varying the color - close to the bridge for an edgy tone and near the neck for a sweeter sound where appropriate. All in all, a nice performance.
Melancholy and Joy.
Wonderful dynamics. Toward the end he comes close to achieving the plucking sound of a harpsichord.
que lindo, con cuanto sentimiento toca!!
Exceptional interpretation and sound! Just beautiful.
Merci Mons thanks for posting
Hello from France. Sorry only discovered this video today. You play magnificently ! How I sympathize ! Me too I've become a Barricades Mystérieuses addict ; my teacher taught me to play it on the piano and to try and be inspired by Sylviane Dufresne's interpretation, that is never too fast. Too fast doesn't do justice to this absolutely amazing piece. Apparently simple but full of abysses and contradictions ; a genuine delight to play and to listen to. My teacher told me to try and play it with sensuality because the barricades might be far more erotic in their genuine meaning than the usual "eyelashes" explanation. So welcome to the "sect" of addicts and may music enlighten our lives for a long, long time.
Amazin'
So beautiful.
Very nice sound with this type of guitar!
It is so beautiful. It inspired me to play it myself. It is such a great process to discover the gentle magic that lies in this composition. It's a little bit sad, there is distortion on the recording. Maybe that is only because of the CZcams - conversion. A little bit of a shame !
This is fantastic! thanks :)
You sound great thank you
Hi, I am a lutenist and I recently arranged and performed this for the French theorbo.
I personally think the mysterious barricades have something to do with the eyes of a woman, being a 'wall' on the way to her heart...maybe, maybe not :)
Beautiful song. What went wrong with the recording?
Extraordinário Bravo 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Lovely
I heard Parkening play this at the beginning of his career and have never forgotten it. Nobody seems to knowwhat the title means. I have asked anyone who might know and still no answer!!
This piece is a magical mantra.
Great !!!
お疲れ様です。この編曲はニ長調ですが、譜面は発売されていますか? てか、ノーマル調弦なのに､最後の和音は⑥弦がDになってる。 まさにこれこそミステリアスですな（笑）。遠い日本から愛を込めてベン。
briiliant!
really good. it is a very difficult piece of music for the guitar - mastered by you.
Parkening's transcription is in C - this is in D. This seems to go a lot smoother.
beautiful¡
I realize this version is in D, I need the sheet music for this PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Interprétation inspirée d'une pièce envoûtante.
You must remember that the Harpsichord is a string instrument like the guitar.
Well wow. That was beautiful and gorgeous. And I am glad you make the faces when you play it that I make when I listen to it!
Check Matthew McAllister's version here: czcams.com/video/xp6J6MKkMYk/video.html
He makes this really subtle change just after 2 min 30 - almost seems like it could have been a mistake - but I now long for that simple variation in the final appearance of the theme and I miss it in other recordings.
Does anyone happen to have the tabulature for his version?
Not in this key.
Lots of good tabs in 'C; for this. (My preferred key!)
And most professionals will play it in C.
And try not to play it like your about to swallow a fly like Ben here...
So why don't you take your time and enjoy it at half the tempo???
It's like you're racing to the fucking end. Slow down and listen to what you're playing.
Another video said that the mysterious barricades are a woman's eyelashes.
The same music at two place is a bad idea.
Too fast
Lovely, but gimme David Russell.
***** Thanks for recommendation, will search for it now.
Polki Sa Zawsze Kieszonkowsze I don't know Russell's is sweet, but I like this best even though I am a huge fan of Russell!
Note to students: Keep your mouth closed when you play so you don't look like a dead fish like this guy.
Anche tu faresti bene a tenere la bocca chiusa.
@Mark Lis sei sicuro di ver capito quello che ho scritto?